Bhagwant Maan's publicity budget is double the cost of Chandrayaan-3: State BJP chief Sunil Jakhar

Punjab BJP Chief, Sunil Jakhar, has criticised state Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for his extensive expenditure on publicity, which Jakhar claims is nearly "double the cost of India's lunar mission."

In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), Jakhar said, "Almost twice the amount spent on India’s moon mission is being squandered for self-aggrandisement by the CM, while farmers await compensation."

To provide context, the Chandrayaan-3 mission, India's lunar exploration endeavor, incurred a cost of Rs 615 crore. In contrast, the expenditure on disseminating Mann's promotional materials across the country tallied up to a significant Rs 1,000 crore.


In comparison, Russia's Luna-25, which recently met with an unfortunate crash, bore an estimated cost of Rs 1,600 crore. It's worth mentioning that Chandrayaan-3 took 40 days to reach the Moon, while Luna's intended landing was scheduled for the 11th day.

Interestingly, when is was also compared with budgets, Christopher Nolan's renowned space-centric movie "Interstellar" had a budget of $165 million—more than twice the expense of Chandrayaan-3. It's a juxtaposition that had previously drawn attention to Chandrayaan-3's precursor, Chandrayaan-2.